WARSAW, Oct 5 (AFP) - US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on Tuesday praised the upcoming presidential elections in Afghanistan as an historic event after the US-led campaign to oust the Taliban regime in 2001.
"This Saturday, Afghans for what I believe in the first time in their history will hold a national election for their president," Wolfowitz said in a speech before Warsaw University.
"An election for which 10.6 million people are registered to vote, 40 percent of them women despite threats from the Taliban. It is quite an achievement," he added.
Afghanistan's US-backed interim President Hamid Karzai is expected to win the vote, which is being held under heavy security in anticipation of attacks by remnants of the hardline Islamic Taliban regime.